Secret Sin Leads to Guilt In "The Scarlet Letter", Hawthorne depicts a way of life that no longer exists in today's society. It was a society of fear in a strict moral code. ... Hester cannot even bring herself to tell her own daughter the true reason for the scarlet letter, which seems everyone but Pearl knows. ... The puritan way of life was more heavily oriented around God. ... Many people in the puritans lived a lie. ...

• Word Count: 558
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Nathaniel Hawthorne was an anti-transcendentalist and believed in the dark side of man, hence his dark romantic novel The Scarlet Letter. ... The Scarlet Letter defines the American Romanticist movement while using symbolic characters and places that give the book seemingly two different stories. ... In addition the prison represents Puritan society, with all of its strict social and moral rules of conduct, and the rose bush symbolizes the individual, standing defiantly on their own, lively and strong, in spite of the society as a whole, against them. ... She, in her decision to have a relatio...

• Word Count: 1687
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School